Last year, after a 70-year hiatus, the legendary Montauk Sky aviation brand returned to the air. It’s back for the 2019 season giving you the opportunity to fly every weekend this summer between Teterboro and Montauk round trip on a Cessna Grand Caravan for $345, much less than the cost of a basic car service.

Montauk Sky was founded in 1942 by Raymond and Schuyler Tilney, two brothers in the U.S. Air Force, was started with the simple mission of flying fresh lobster from Montauk to Manhattan. Soon after, the Tilney’s cronies started hitching rides to Manhattan for a night on the town for $5 a head. While the Tilney brothers could never have imagined modern advancements in aviation we’ve come to appreciate today, they would be thrilled to know their legacy of rugged and dependable air travel continues with the relaunch of Montauk Sky.

Join us for 2019’s journey between Montauk and Teterboro. Feel free to drive to the airport and park onsite, or, alternatively, after relaxing with a drink at our West 30th street Lounge, book a seat in our coordinated shared car service to your Montauk Sky Flight when departing from Teterboro.

Rosé? No way. Expect ice boxes of beer, bags of chips, and great music waiting onboard.

Enjoy the Montauk Sky sensibility, a throwback to a simpler time but using advanced jet engine aircraft flown by our seasoned operators.

Watch: Discover the Legend of Montauk Sky

In 1942, The United States Air Force established a base at the very eastern tip of Long Island, near the Montauk Lighthouse. FDR surmised that if anyone was going to spot an oncoming attack by the Axis powers via submarine or fighter plane, it would be the Montauk USAF Base. Lucky for them, they didn’t see much action. There was, however, plenty of poker, storytelling, and lobster trapping.

Legend has it that to pass the time, Raymond and Schuyler Tilney, two brothers stationed at the base, started a secret cash-and-carry lobster business. They would empty their lobster traps each morning at 5AM off the coast of Montauk, and then fly the crustaceans to New York City on their rare Grumman Tadpole plane. The lobsters were offloaded incognito (in boxes labeled USAF Munitions) at a pier in the Meatpacking District where top restaurant chefs lined up to serve them on the plates of New York’s rich and famous by 7PM sharp. To make extra cash, Raymond and Schuyler charged their Air Force buddies $5 per flight to fly them to the city for a night out on the town, with many sitting strapped on top of lobster-filled ice boxes in the rear of the plane.

The Tilney brothers were lionized in the Manhattan culinary scene for supplying large and fresh lobsters that purportedly “put Maine to shame.” The Stork Club, the Copacabana, and Patsy’s among other swanky establishments swore by the brothers’ ability to deliver Montauk lobster from “boat to belly” in mere hours. Legend has it, to avoid any run-ins with well-known mob families who controlled the New York City restaurant industry’s seafood trade, the brothers painted their plane with a “Montauk Sky” logo to quite literally fly under the radar. One uptown chef supposedly told the New York Examiner in 1944, “the Tilney boys’ lobster is so good and so fresh, it’s worth having your kneecaps broken for.” Such were the mob retribution fears of the time.

Following the end of WWII, President Truman largely decommissioned the Air Force base in Montauk, starting with Raymond, Schuyler, and the rest of the aircrew, causing an immediate end to Montauk Sky.

So now, seven decades later, following dozens of interviews, deep dives into stories told (and forgotten), and rotted and frayed scrapbooks, BLADE is proud to bring back the same energy to practical air travel between New York and Montauk that the Tilney brothers stood for.

The Tilney brothers lived in Montauk during a simpler time, barely resembling the one we know and love today. It was a time when deep sea fisherman, writers, and the enlisted worked separately by day and bonded over whiskey by night. This was the Montauk that the Tilney brothers knew, way before summer shares or sustainable fishing. It was a simpler time when you took a hammer to the starter of your rusted pickup truck to get it going, rather than an iPhone app to open your Tesla doors.

We invite you to climb aboard and experience this simpler time with Montauk Sky.

Expect good music, fine beer, crisp chips, and great company. See you on the runway.

For those doing a deep dive into the legend of Montauk Sky, it’s a called a legend for a reason. We are an aviation company, not historians. But if you learn more, definitely let us know!

Terms and Conditions

AmEx gift cards cannot be used towards this route.

All sales are final.

There will be no All Weather Guarantee ground transport provided in the event of poor weather conditions. If there is a low cloud ceiling or poor weather conditions, flights could land in the Hamptons short of their destination. If the flight is cancelled due to poor weather conditions, fliers will receive credits.

What's Included

Fly between Teterboro and Montauk on a jet engine Cessna Grand Caravan

Enjoy beer, chips, a to-go Montauk Sky lobster roll, and great music onboard each flight

$345 each way pre-tax

Transportation to and from Teterboro - (departing and arriving from BLADE Lounge West) for $45 per person.

BLADE Urban Air Mobility, Inc. is not a direct air carrier. Fly Blade acts as an indirect air carrier for public charter flights between Manhattan, Westchester and Miami, Manhattan and the Hamptons, and Miami and Palm Beach. Helicopter public charter flights between Manhattan and White Plains and Manhattan and the Hamptons are operated by Helicopter Flight Services, Zip Aviation and other FAA/DOT licensed operators. Public charter flights between White Plains and Miami are operated by Corporate Flight Management, Inc. Public charter flights between Miami and Palm Beach are operated by Lima NY Corp. Please refer to Fly Blade’s Operator-Participant Agreement at www.flyblade.com. In addition, for flights to any destinations that are charters of the entire aircraft capacity, Blade acts as the agent of the customer.